Loss
by M. Marchand
Summary: A routine interview goes horribly wrong for Terry and Don.
1. Chapter 1

Acknowledgements:  
Omi as always  
Mel for giving me the plot bunny in the first place even if it's not to spec 

Disclaimers:  
"A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend" - Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
I do not own the characters Don, Terry or David nor do I have any rights  
to anything related to the TV show Numb3rs. I plead fair use and claim  
only my own writing and characters.

* * *

Chapter One:

A routine witness interview on a routine day.

Terry didn't mind routine days with Don as her partner. At first she'd been uncertain about having a former lover as a partner but their easy rapport had returned with startling ease and they'd fallen back into a close relationship without any effort. Sure, Terry had to get used to the idea that that relationship was no longer a romantic one, but some part of her held out hope that Don would eventually come around.

But for now, they were partners in the truest sense of the word. He had her back and she had his. There was no one she'd trust with her life more than Don.

"117 Haller Lane, here we are." Don pulled the SUV into a parking space a few doors down from the address they'd been looking for. Big parking spaces were hard to find in Southern California but Don was an expert at parallel parking, having been born and raised in the area.

They walked back to the house, a slightly ramshackle looking mobile home on a slender lot between large apartment buildings.

Don pulled out his notebook briefly and checked his notes. "Okay, this guy's Horace Wilbur. Suspect's brother-in-law. Let's see what Mr. Wilbur knows."

Don and Terry walked up the narrow concrete walkway and stepped up on the low wooden stoop. The flimsy front door rattled in its frame as Don knocked on it.

"Who is it?" A gruff voice was heard from inside the house.

"Special Agent Don Eppes, FBI. I'm looking for a Mr. Horace Wilbur."

There was silence for a second or two, then a horrible sound that both Don and Terry recognized but had no time to react to.

A shotgun.


	2. Chapter 2

Loss 2/7

* * *

Chapter Two:

The shot ripped through the flimsy door, shattering it. Terry felt herself pushed back by the force of the blast, landing hard on the concrete walkway. Her consciousness wavered for a moment but she saw a man flee from the house, shotgun in hand, and run past her down the street.

It occurred to her that she should be in great pain but instead she felt almost disconnected from her body...disconnected from her breath...

She lowered a hand to her left side and it came back covered in blood. 'That's not good...' she thought. Already in shock, she was incapable of true coherent thought.

Something did get through to her though. She remembered she'd not been alone. She let her head fall to the left and she saw Don laying next to her on the walkway.

"Don..." His white dress shirt was shredded and his torso was covered in blood. He wasn't moving and even though they were only a few inches apart, Terry couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.

Terry struggled to stay alert enough to pull out her cell phone. "Two FBI agents down..." she managed to mumble into the phone. "Need ambulance... Shooter Horace Wilbur escaped... 117 Haller Lane... Hurry..."

The phone slipped from her ear, her hand too weak to hold it any longer.

"Hurry..." she whispered and then could say no more.


	3. Chapter 3

Loss 3/7

* * *

Chapter Three:

"Agent Lake? Can you hear me?"

Terry didn't want to wake up, she felt so sleepy and warm. The bright light in her eyes annoyed her and she wanted it to stop. She waved her hand at the light to make it go away but found it hard to control her hand, realizing belatedly she was feeling that way because she was drugged.

The light finally went out and when her eyes adjusted, she was looking up at a man in a doctor's white coat.

"I'm Dr. Nguyen, Agent Lake. You're at Queen of Angels Hospital. You were brought in with injuries from a shotgun blast. Do you remember what happened?"

"Suspect shot at us and ran," she mumbled.

"Us?" Dr. Nguyen asked.

"My partner, Don Eppes. He was hurt worse than me. How is he?" Terry asked.

"I'm sorry, Agent Lake, I only worked on you. I don't know anything about a second victim but I'll ask one of the nurses to check and find out for you. For now, you should know that we removed a small number of steel shot from your left side and that, barring a few scars, you should heal up just fine. You also have a concussion so we'll need to monitor you for a couple of days to ensure there are no complications."

Terry nodded. She felt weak and was afraid she'd lose consciousness again before she found out about Don. "Please... My partner..."

"All right, Agent Lake." Dr. Nguyen patted her hand in understanding. "I'll go ask someone to check for you."

The doctor left and Terry tried as hard as she could to stay awake but was unable to. As she drifted off, she remembered what Don looked like laying next to her. He'd been so still, so pale and there'd been so much blood. But still... Don was strong. He'd never leave her...


	4. Chapter 4

Loss 4/7

* * *

Chapter Four:

"Don!" Terry woke with a start and tried to sit up, a movement that caused the pain in her side to flare up. A pair of woman's hands gently pushed her back down on the bed.

"Ms. Lake, please, you need to lay still," the nurse admonished her softly.

"My partner? What happened to him? He was brought in when I was."

"Ms. Lake, I didn't work on anyone other than you but I did see a man with a shotgun injury to the chest in another trauma room as I was walking past. I didn't catch his name but he was a white guy with short dark hair."

"That's him!" Terry exclaimed. "Can you find out what happened to him? Can I see him?"

The nurse looked doleful and shook her head. "I'm sorry. The only reason I noticed him was because they were calling it."

"Calling what?" Terry asked, confused.

"Calling time of death. I'm really sorry," the nurse said softly.

The air in Terry's lungs disappeared as the bottom dropped out of her world.

This time she welcomed the darkness that swallowed her whole.


	5. Chapter 5

Loss 5/7

* * *

Chapter Five:

When Terry came around next she felt heavy inside. 'It's the grief,' she thought to herself. She'd felt the same way when her beloved grandmother had died suddenly. She carried her loss as a weight in her chest that pulled her down, making everything harder.

"Well hello there..." a quiet voice came from the doorway. Terry opened her eyes to find David standing there. "I was wondering when you were going to wake up."

"David... Hi..." Terry managed to get out.

He came and sat next to her. "It's okay, you don't have to talk. I'm just glad to see you awake is all."

Terry had to ask him something though. "Alan and Charlie... How did... How did they take the news about Don?"

"Well, you can imagine," David said. "Charlie pretty much lost it, I mean you saw him after Don only got grazed by a bullet and now this? Alan took it really hard too, of course, Don's his son so yeah..." David shook his head.

Terry fought back the tears welling up in her eyes. "We never saw it coming."

David nodded. "We're still looking for Wilbur. The sedan he carjacked turned up but there's no sign of him."

"He carjacked someone?"

"You didn't know? Sorry, I just figured someone told you already. I've been busy working the case and couldn't come until today."

"I've been out most of the time," Terry explained.

"Well, he stopped a sedan driving down Haller Lane, pulled the driver out of the car, shot him, took the car and disappeared before the police arrived on the scene. They found the poor guy laying in the street and you and Don in the front yard when they arrived. The hospital told us the carjack victim didn't make it so now Wilbur's up for Homicide, not just firing on federal officers."

Something clicked in Terry's head. "The carjack victim died? Was he shot in the chest?"

"Yeah, he died here at the hospital right after they brought you three in."

Terry felt like she could kiss David she was so happy. "And Don?"

"Well, he hasn't woken up yet but the doctors think he will soon. He just had a lot more shot in him than you did. He lost a lot of blood, Terry. It's going to take him a lot longer to recover from this."

Terry grabbed David and pulled him down to her so she could kiss his cheek. "Thank you!" she exclaimed.

"Any time." David was confused but didn't protest. "Glad I could help."


	6. Chapter 6

Loss 6/7

* * *

Chapter Six:

Terry was annoyed at how slow her wheelchair was but knew it was the only way the nurses would let her visit Don's room. Alan and Charlie had been gracious enough to allow her some time alone with him and as she approached his room, she felt a little apprehensive about seeing him again, given how bad he'd looked previously.

The nurse opened the door for her and parked the wheelchair next to Don's bed, leaving them alone in the room.

Terry couldn't stop staring at Don. He was ghostly pale and as still as she remembered. She took his hand and it was cool to the touch. She warmed it between her own hands then held it to her face, pressing his palm to her cheek. Her tears fell down her cheeks and over his hand and Terry made no move to wipe them away.

Don was alive.

Terry slowly and carefully stood up, ignoring the pain in her side. She stood over Don's bed for a moment then leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips.

"I never stopped loving you," she whispered to him.

After a moment, standing became too painful for her and she sat back down again. She held Don's hand and waited for him to wake.

After only a minute or two he began to toss and turn. His mouth was moving but Terry couldn't hear anything so she rose again and put her ear up to his face.

"Terry... Terry..." she made out the sound of her own name, just barely.

"It's okay, Don. I'm right here," she said soothingly. "Everything's okay now."

This seemed to calm him and he stopped moving about. His breathing grew deeper though and Terry was encouraged that he might come around.

She didn't have to wait long. Don's eyes opened just barely and took in the sight of his partner standing above him.

"Hey, Terry..." he said with a smile.

She squeezed his hand and returned his smile. "Hey, yourself."

Don pulled their joined hands up to his lips and kissed the back of Terry's hand. "Missed you..." he murmured, then tucked their hands next to his neck, resting his cheek against them as he closed his eyes again.

"I missed you, too," Terry whispered as Don fell back asleep again.


	7. Chapter 7

Loss 7/7

* * *

Chapter Seven:

Visiting Don had taken so much out of Terry that the nurses refused to let her go again until the next day. She was impatient with them and for good reason. Charlie had come by to let her know Don had woken up and started talking so she desperately wanted to see him now.

As the nurse wheeled her in again, Alan and Charlie discreetly got up and left to give her and Don some privacy. Once the nurse left, they were alone again.

"You all right?" Don asked. "David told me what happened with Wilbur."

"You don't remember anything?"

Don shook his head. "I remember we were working a case but I don't remember anything about being on Haller Lane at all. The doctor said it's not uncommon to lose a little short term memory and that I shouldn't worry about it."

Terry nodded, wishing she could have been lucky enough to forget those horrible moments.

"You remember, don't you?" Don picked up on her silence immediately.

"Yeah," she replied. "We parked, went up to the house, and knocked. Wilbur called out to ask who was at the door and when you said you were a Federal agent, he fired a shotgun blast through the door at us. We both got blown back and ended up flat on our backs on the walkway. I saw Wilbur run out but I wasn't in any shape to stop him."

Don reached over and took Terry's hand, the sadness on his face told him how he felt about her having to go through this without his help.

"At first I wasn't sure what had happened," she continued, running through the replay in her mind. "It didn't hurt for some strange reason and I was still dazed from hitting my head on the pavement. Then I saw the blood on my hand from my side and that kind of woke me up. I turned my head and saw you next to me. Oh god, Don there was so much blood..." her voice began to tremble as the visuals came back to her.

"Terry, Terry..." Don's voice was full of caring and concern. He shifted over to the side of his bed and beckoned to her. "Come up here, okay?"

Terry stood carefully and climbed up on the bed to lie down next to Don. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She lay her head on his chest, careful not to get too close to his bandages.

"You weren't moving at all," she continued once she felt a little stronger. "I couldn't tell if you were breathing or not. I knew we didn't have much time so I pulled out my cell and called for help. I'm not sure how much I was able to tell them before I lost consciousness but evidently they found us and the carjack victim when they got there."

"David told me he didn't make it," Don said.

Terry nodded and tried not to cry at the thoughts that brought back to her.

Don felt her trying to stifle her sobs. "Hey, it's okay, Terry. Everything's okay now."

"Don... When I first woke up..." Terry was no longer able to hold back her feelings. "I asked about you. The nurse said she'd seen another shotgun blast victim in the ER and that... that it was you and you were dead."

"No!" Don held her closer and kissed the top of her head. "That wasn't me!"

"I know that now. She made a mistake and thought the carjack victim was you since you looked similar in coloring. I didn't even know Wilbur had carjacked anyone until later when David came to see me."

Terry sat up a little so she could look at Don. "I was sure you were dead. I... Don, I couldn't breathe when I thought you were gone... I..." Terry wasn't able to go on, her anguish at the thought was too great.

"Hey... No, it's okay..." Don shushed her as she began to cry and kissed her on the forehead. As her tears slowed, he kissed her temple and then her cheek. Finally, he looked her in the eye and said, "I would never leave you." He leaned in as Terry rose to meet him and they kissed, gently at first, then as their past connection came back to them, more passionately.

As they separated, they smiled at each other in understanding. "Any weirdness?" Don asked with a chuckle.

"No weirdness, Don. Just history," Terry said, echoing her words from several weeks earlier.

"Can I trade that in for no weirdness and a future?" Don asked.

Terry smiled at him. "That's an upgrade I've been hoping for for a long time," she admitted.

Don grinned. "Me too. I guess it took almost losing you to make me see it though."

Terry kissed him again, ready to start making up for lost time.

"You could never lose me, Don."


End file.
